Well this one is announced to support profile 2.0, if that's important. OTOH, I think the Sammy looks better; and have read mixed reviews of the existing LG dual player. I'll have to see more than what's in the first announcement.

I think a better question is why aren't we saying "Don't Buy Fox BD's until they offer more than just DTS-MA"?

No player on the market can utilize the DTS-MA so why are all of their titles coming out with it only for lossless?

Don t know why and it IS a fact that they are realsing them and keep releasing them in the near future. Boycotting has no sense, people will still buy them. So.......I want a player with DTS-MA decoder

I think a better question is why aren't we saying "Don't Buy Fox BD's until they offer more than just DTS-MA"?

No player on the market can utilize the DTS-MA so why are all of their titles coming out with it only for lossless?

Well, most of this year's crop of receivers do decode DTS MA; and the version of the 1.3 HDMI chip required to send it out via bitstream is now being announced on several of the new players. For some reason it seems like DTS prefers this approach. I'll think we'll see more of the bitstream-capable players before we see a lot of decoders built into players.

You are right, they don't mention it the the press release. It has to have a TrueHD decoder for at least 2 channel, though, as HD DVD specs require it. Anyway, if in fact it can stream advanced codecs over HDMI 1.3 then it also could be decoded in the receiver.

Any confirmation on 2.0? If so I guess its 1.1 (at best) and HQV in an attractive box vs. 2.0 and ....uh...Marvell's Qdeo...packaged in a Zenith VCR box.

How's the overall reliability of LG vs Samsung? I've never owned either except for a short stint with the BH100 (which was actually ok).

Profile 2.0 is officially "BD-Live". As that is mentioned in the press release I'd say the LG is got all profiles. The chip in the Sammy (Broadcom 7440) supports advanced profiles, but Sammy hasn't announced support for any.

So the LG gives all profiles of BD, but (apparently) no advanced audio decoding and a "non-name brand" video scaling solution. And the Sammy gives you TrueHD, ability to stream DTS-MA (maybe after a firmware upgrade), possible DTS-MA onboard (with firmware upgrade), excellent upconverting chip (Reon); but no advanced profiles, and not even an announcement of a possibility of firmware upgrade to advanced profiles (though it seems like it has all the hardware; or at least most of it).

Any confirmation on 2.0? If so I guess its 1.1 (at best) and HQV in an attractive box vs. 2.0 and ....uh...Marvell's Qdeo...packaged in a Zenith VCR box.

How's the overall reliability of LG vs Samsung? I've never owned either except for a short stint with the BH100 (which was actually ok).

Samsung is rated slightly higher among electronic brands than LG in Korea. However, LG makes better appliances, and much preferred over Samsung in Korea for things like refrigerators and washers. For DVDs and TVs, Samsung (PAVV) is preferred over LG (XCANVAS).

From Wikepedia:

Samsung is top rated of global electronics brands in various reports. In August 2005, BusinessWeek rated Samsung as the Number 1 consumer electronics brand in the world with revenue topping 75$ billion. In 2006, Business Week rating Samsung is ranking 20th of global brands. Business Week also ranked Samsung as #12 in a ranking of the "Top 100 Most Innovative Companies" in a special report published April 24, 2006. In January 2007, BrandFinance report ranking the company number 1 in electronics and 32nd overall brands.

LG's efforts to become one of the world's top three electronics company by 2010 is annually reflected by its high revenue growth and increased brand value - by 2005, LG was considered a Top 100 global brand, and just a year later, LG recorded an impressive brand growth of 14%. Now the world's largest plasma panel manufacturer, its joint venture, LG.Philips LCD, is the world's top maker of liquid-crystal displays for TVs.

Unless the LG can beet the Samsung on price, I don't think it has a chance.
Not to mention, the common consumer will already recognize the "Samsung" name for it's HDTV's. Might not mean much to us, but it should mean a lot to your average joe.

I own the Samsung 1200, and quite frankly, it is a POS. It has trouble reading discs, and the sound in general is mediocre at best. The picture IS good when it works. Add the fact that people are complaining about their customer support (don't expect much in the way of FW updates), and I can't recommend that company to anyone.
The LG is 1.1 and 2.0 compliant, and the Sammy 5000 isn't. Frankly, if I have to buy another player, in case one of mine dies, I'll seriously look into the LG 200.
J

I own the Samsung 1200, and quite frankly, it is a POS. It has trouble reading discs, and the sound in general is mediocre at best. The picture IS good when it works. Add the fact that people are complaining about their customer support (don't expect much in the way of FW updates), and I can't recommend that company to anyone.The LG is 1.1 and 2.0 compliant, and the Sammy 5000 isn't. Frankly, if I have to buy another player, in case one of mine dies, I'll seriously look into the LG 200.
J

Big J,

has this been confirmed? I know the Sammy has the hardware to do 1.1 AND 2.0, but it may be missing the software to do it. as far as the Samsung brand goes, I am a fan of them. I have an 61HLS88W and havent had a problem with it yet, if you take a look at the appliance boards the Samsung products are gaining in popularity as well. I dont have anything bad to say about them. I for one (if the end price is right) will be picking up a Sammy5000 as it is (at least on paper) the best dual player that will be available. I dont have anything bad to say about LG though they are a good company, its the lack of analog outputs(among other things) that is the deal breaker for me though.

has this been confirmed? I know the Sammy has the hardware to do 1.1 AND 2.0, but it may be missing the software to do it. as far as the Samsung brand goes, I am a fan of them. I have an 61HLS88W and havent had a problem with it yet, if you take a look at the appliance boards the Samsung products are gaining in popularity as well. I dont have anything bad to say about them. I for one (if the end price is right) will be picking up a Sammy5000 as it is (at least on paper) the best dual player that will be available. I dont have anything bad to say about LG though they are a good company, its the lack of analog outputs(among other things) that is the deal breaker for me though.

I'm guessing Big J is referring to the lack of updates Samsung has provided for its Blu-Ray players, which I agree is really sad. So why should we think things will be different in the future? I have sent several e-mails myself to Samsung asking about the issue with Weeds Season 2 and I have got zero response. For the most part I really like my 1200, I have had the issue with Deja Vu and Weeds 2 but everything else has worked really great for me so far.

I have sent several e-mails myself to Samsung asking about the issue with Weeds Season 2 and I have got zero response.

Don't want to be sour now, but I think you're a bit naive thinking you are getting a reply from a hardware manufacturer.
In my country, Sony, Pioneer and w.h.y. don't even provide a consumers' telephone number, just an endless automated merry-go-round...they just can't be bothered!
It's sad, really...

Don't want to be sour now, but I think you're a bit naive thinking you are getting a reply from a hardware manufacturer.
In my country, Sony, Pioneer and w.h.y. don't even provide a consumers' telephone number, just an endless automated merry-go-round...they just can't be bothered!
It's sad, really...

Maybe I am being naive but when it's right there on their support website (about half way down) to ask a question via e-mail I expect some kind of response.

has this been confirmed? I know the Sammy has the hardware to do 1.1 AND 2.0, but it may be missing the software to do it. as far as the Samsung brand goes, I am a fan of them. I have an 61HLS88W and havent had a problem with it yet, if you take a look at the appliance boards the Samsung products are gaining in popularity as well. I dont have anything bad to say about them. I for one (if the end price is right) will be picking up a Sammy5000 as it is (at least on paper) the best dual player that will be available. I dont have anything bad to say about LG though they are a good company, its the lack of analog outputs(among other things) that is the deal breaker for me though.

It's interesting that cnet would word their review that way. The LG press release for the BH200 claims that the player has "the capability to handle networked 'BD-Live' interactivity in forthcoming Blu-ray discs". BD-Live is the designation for Profile 2 capabilities. If the BH200 is indeed a Profile 2 player, cnet isn't wrong in saying that it will also support Profile 1.1 capabilities, but it seems weird (and misleading?) to me that they'd word it that way.

Wow, way too much technical information. I'm actually looking at both and wondering which one is better myself. Brand doesn't hold too much value, just want to know which one has better/advanced features and better performance.

It's interesting that cnet would word their review that way. The LG press release for the BH200 claims that the player has "the capability to handle networked 'BD-Live' interactivity in forthcoming Blu-ray discs". BD-Live is the designation for Profile 2 capabilities. If the BH200 is indeed a Profile 2 player, cnet isn't wrong in saying that it will also support Profile 1.1 capabilities, but it seems weird (and misleading?) to me that they'd word it that way.